Teacher assistant questions?

Question

If students always tardy. What you do?

If students struggle with assignment

If child has bad nightmare. What you do?

If student has no respect for me. What should i do?

Answer 1

Being that you're a teacher assistant, some duties may belong to the main teacher.

Tardy - The student is marked tardy.  Some schools would mark them absent if they are in school less than half the day.  Every school has a different tardy policy.

Struggling - Chunk the lesson into smaller bits for the student.  Model the assignment step by step checking if the student is comprehending along the way.

Nightmare - In severe cases, refer the child to the school counselor.  Talk to the child privately and try to determine the fear.  Reassure the child that it was just a dream.  If the dream is based on real life issues, refer him to the counselor.

Respect - This is something you cannot ask a child for or bribe.  Respect has to be earned.  Treat the students as a human being and talk to them with respect.  Never embarrass a student in front of others.  Talk firmly, not yell at a troubling student in private (just outside the room in the hall).  Practice what you preach.  If you say something follow through or you'll be taken advantage of.  Be firm, consistent and fair.  Respect will come your way.

Answer 2

If a student is always tardy, I ask the student why (obviously if the child is driving to school late vs. the parents drops him off late require different actions). If it is the parents' getting them late, I call them and tell them that their child seems flustered and rushed by getting into the classroom late and it sets a tough tone for the child in the morning and could they make an effort to get him there earlier.  As far as the child coming in-I set up a procedure where the child signs himself in and just starts working without disrupting anyone and pick up whatever work he missed during an appropriate time.

If all the students are struggling with an assignment--I reteach it! If one or two are, I notice it during independent worktime in the classroom and I help them or I pull them into a group and work with the group separately when I can see where they are going off.

If my child has an occassional bad nightmare, I pull him/her into bed with me and tell them there is nothing to be afraid of, but I am here. My daughter had a month when she was having frequent nightmares, come to find out there was a problem at school (she was in 4th grade) and they stopped after we addressed it.

I'm a middle school teacher and have decided having the respect of students is nice, but you can't always get what you want!  As long as the kids do what you need them to do, the battle is half won!  The important thing is to always be fair, follow through on what you say, be honest and kind in what you say, and just try your best and the kids will learn to respect that. Some kids just have authority issues, but you just need to be fair and firm.

Hope this helps a bit.  Good luck to you!

Answer 3

Discuss this with the classroom teacher. It is the teacher*s job to maintain a proper teaching forum. The teacher should immediately contact the parent and notify a school counselor. As a last resort the proper city agency might have to be contacted.